In the 1967 prison film Cool Hand Luke, directed by Stuart Rosenberg, there are many examples of theological symbolism and religious themes. Most of the symbolism alludes to Jesus Christ, which is often utilized in film to add depth to the protagonist in the story. Such Christ figure symbolism can also be seen in films such as the 1999 hit The Matrix and the original Star Wars film (1977). Along with these visual suggestions, there are also thematic elements that underlie Cool Hand Luke which involve Biblical allusions and metaphysical questions.
The film revolves around a man named Lucas Jackson, portrayed by the legendary actor Paul Newman, who is sentenced to two years in a small suburban jail. He is convicted for destroying public property, and being intoxicated while doing so. Before his conviction, Luke was in the Army and attained the rank of Sergeant. However, he was demoted when his service was up, and is seemingly running into trouble no matter where he goes. At the jail, the warden asks him about his carelessness and impulsive actions, to which Luke replies “…it’s something to pass the time”.
From the first day at the jail, Luke stands out amongst the inmates. Most of them follow and bend to every rule that is made by the warden and prison guards, while Luke sneers at the establishment. The prisoners also follow the rules of the biggest inmate, Dragline, who is portrayed by George Kennedy. Still, Luke does not take the excessive rules and regulations seriously, which gets him into trouble. Dragline challenges Luke to a boxing match, and they meet out in the court yard. Due to Dragline’s large stature and strength, he beats Luke into a pulp. What was initially a large crowd cheering on the fight, turns into a sad spe...
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...ons also served to help bring a new light to old scriptures. Taking the values and lessons of Biblical accounts and placing them into the context of a film work to reinforce the good values and wisdom passed down from generations ago. In no way did this film carry an anti-religious sentiment or offensive remarks. If you take the entire context of the film, it was in fact an encouragement to pursue religious and spiritual endeavors.
I personally thought this was a great film, although initially I thought it might be boring. Once I got past the older production quality and immersed myself into the story, I enjoyed it. I can see why this film is a cinematic classic, especially with the memorable dialogue. My favorite lines came from Carr, the floor walker. He seemed to know his job like the back of his hand. “Any man loses his spoon; he spends the night in the box”.
Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) is one of Philadelphia's most promising lawyers. He's the hot rookie and is hired by a top law firm headed by Charles Wheeler (Jason Robards). Andy is also gay and dying from AIDS. When the physical signs of the disease begin to manifest themselves, the firm gets cold on Andy and he's out of a job. They tell him it's because he has an attitude problem and his work is mediocre, but Andy knows it's more personal than that. After no other law firm will take his case for unfair dismissal, his last resort is old adversary Joe Miller (Denzel Washington). Joe, a homophobe with an innate fear of AIDS, is reluctant to take the case also because of his personal reasons, but after seeing Andy humiliated in a public library, can't resist standing his corner with him.
The movie introduces a WWII veteran, Luke, who gets sent to jail and immediately dislikes the culture and norm. Luke witnesses the inmates take orders from both the de factor leader Dragline, as well as for the warden for nearly every task from working to eating. During their day labor, he also notices that the inmates work in unison; they work in a slow, steady pace where no one does better than the other. This dislike for uniformity creates a uncomfortable atmosphere for Luke, so he decides to start challenging authority. This is manifested when Luke enters a boxing match with Dragline. The boxing match ensues and Luke is determined to defeat Dragline, but his endeavor is futile as he fails to beat Dragline.
man. He made this film with his agnostic point of view, and designed it to reflect the anti-religious
The group of inmates, without the presence of Irwin, wasn’t very cohesive and though they were classified as a single group in the eyes of Colonel Winter, the prison’s warden, they acted as individuals and only looked out for themselves. A scene that really exemplified lack of cohesion between the inmates was at the start of the film when the inmates began fighting over a game of basketball over a petty argument. They really didn’t like ...
who this convict is and what kind of part will he play in the rest of
Honestly I thought that the movie had such a simple story but at the same time it is so complex. The way it was delivered it was amazing, it's such a moving film. The actor’s were amazing, there isn’t anything I would want to change about this film. I would 100% recommend this movie to anyone, its so inspiring and it really makes you think.
While many may appreciate The Matrix for it’s over-the- top fight scenes, there is much to be gained from the film’s biblical references that gives us a deeper and richer understanding of the film.
The film stars Tim Robbins as Andrew 'Andy' Dufresne and Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding. The film portrays Andy spending nearly two decades in Shawshank State Prison, a surreal house of correction in Maine and his friendship with Red, a fellow inmate, which gradually develops over the years. Consequently the three reasons that the director wanted to produce this movie are to reveal hope, despair and integrity. Red describes the reasons eloquently: “All I know for sure is that Andy Dufresne wasn’t much like me or anyone else I ever knew. . . . It was a kind of inner light he carried around with him.”
In their film, The Matrix, Andy and Larry Wachowski have included many literary allusions and symbols to enhance the appeal of this groundbreaking science fiction film. As incredible as the special effects and cinematography are in this film, the Wachowski brothers have significantly bolstered the appeal of The Matrix by an elaborately constructed story spanning time and reality. These allusions and symbols include references from infamous writers such as Lewis Carol, Jung, John Bunyan and Descartes. However, the most meaningful and abundant references come from The Holy Bible.1
In the movie Cool Hand Luke, the main character is arrested in the first five minutes of the movie for beheads all of the parking meters along a street. He is being forced to abide by the rules in prison and at first, does not get a warm welcome by his fellow prisoners because he refuses to abide ...
In conclusion, Cool Hand Luke is a highly entertaining movie for anyone, whether they have had experience with the criminal justice system or not. From start to finish, the movie has a number of insights into the way that the criminal justice system works. While not all of these insights are rooted in fact, the movie does come off as authentic in many ways. Cool Hand Luke remains an American classic, and one of the best prison movies ever created. While others have been produced since 1967, it is hard to argue that the movie has lost any of its credibility or fan following.
The Matrix, directed by the Wachowski brothers, a film about the journey of Neo discovering the real and simulation world, revolves around how he is “The One” destined to save mankind. As critics may say that The Matrix is either an action packed movie containing philosophy or a philosophical movie containing action, critics also miss the fact that it could possibly be considered as a religious themed movie because it contains a plethora of Biblical references, such as symbolic evidence. In Gregory Bassham’s article, “The Religion of The Matrix and Problems of Pluralism”, he discusses how the film contains Christian themes, non-Christian themes, and lastly, religious pluralism. The rhetorical
In early African American Cinema, filmmakers had a mission to move away from white perspectives on what it meant to be black (Stewart 225). Oftentimes, we would see black actors being portrayed in scenes as the antagonist committing crimes, as in the case of D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation. Soon after Griffith released the film, filmmaker Oscar Micheaux forever changed American Independent Cinema with his “response” film Within Our Gates, which helped start the advent of race films (NAACP 1). Some of the most notable race films were: The Homesteader, Body and Soul, and The Blood of Jesus. Such films were produced for all-black audiences that featured black casts. But that did not necessarily mean that they were directed and written by black artists, one example being Michael Roemer’s Nothing But a Man. Although Roemer’s film was different than for instance, Spencer William’s The Blood of Jesus, in some ways they are very similar, in particular their approaches on the aspect of religion.
...ds to film, the religious stories surrounding the scenario are more than likely far less exciting and more straightforward than what is portrayed. The depiction of Christianity in a melodramatic fashion aims to keep people interested but it is not taken into consideration that the events that had taken place in Christian texts such as the bible could be equally interesting and exciting if they are depicted accurately within the story being narrated. Movies are over eager when they get a religious topic to work with and place it unnecessarily over the top, so that the religious undertones and lessons are almost lost and to get them, one must pay extremely close attention.
God reveals himself to the tribe of Judah through Jesus, although they reject him. The movie ultimately shows God’s plan for restoring his relationship with mankind, through the sacrifice of his son Jesus. The greatest personal insight gained from the movie was the political and spiritual battle with the religious establishment and the blindness of the Jewish culture that lead to the rejection of their symbolic spiritual Passover.